Mobile County Presiding Circuit Judge Charles Graddick chose the former, sentencing Daniel Dwight Brown to life in prison after he finishes the rest of his prison term of 20 years and eight months on charges of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and a related gun offense.

“That’s what we asked for, and we’re very pleased that is the sentence that he got,” Mobile County Assistant District Attorney JoBeth Murphree said.

A jury last month convicted Brown, 42, of murder in the death of James “Jimbo” Huddleston III, a fellow member of the Aryan Brotherhood. The victim’s sister spoke in court today, describing the impact of the murder not only on her family but on Brown’s, as well.

During the trial, jurors heard testimony linking Brown to Huddleston’s shooting death on a dirt road in Tillman’s Corner. He had been shot multiple times at close range from two different handguns. A nightclub bouncer near a bar that was a frequent hangout for Brown testified that he found the weapons, along with Huddleston’s cell phone, in a Dumpster in March 2011.

A partially smoked cigarette containing the defendant’s DNA was near Huddleston’s body on Rabbit Creek Road.

Murphree said investigators never determined what sparked the shooting.

“It was a very brutal crime,” she said. “It seemed like a very personal crime.”

The defense maintained during the trial that Brown and Huddleston were friends and had no bad blood between them. Defense lawyer Deborah McGowin suggested that a third man, who had had a confrontation with Huddleston, was a much more likely suspect.

At today’s hearing, Brown said he was sorry about what had happened, although he stopped short of taking responsibility.

“We had hoped for concurrent time, but I’m not completely surprised,” McGowin said in an interview.

McGowin told Graddick that her client intends to appeal. The judge appointed Mobile lawyer Glenn Davidson to represent the defendant in that proceeding.

Barring a successful appeal, Brown would not be eligible for parole consideration until he serves at least 15 years of his state sentence.

Because the bullets came from two different guns, Murphree told jurors during the trial that Brown might not have been the only person involved in the murder. Police never made another arrest, though, and Murphree said today that it is difficult to predict if police would ever be able to come up with another suspect.